The Infinite Bk. 02 Ch. 05

Chapter 5:

Tension

Silver and gold, only knights who held such rankings were present in the war room. Many grumbled in annoyance at their participation, wanting to go home after a busy night stopping the fights in the streets. Why was this dawn briefing required? If it were simply a matter of going over the details of the Red Revelry, then only those who had taken part would be present. But, for some reason, everyone in the city of sufficient rank had gathered.

Swords, shields, and monster trophies decorated the stone palace walls, and the east-facing windows let the sunlight shine across a map spread out over the table. There was always a map depicting the nation or the province; today, it was a map of the city.

"Oi, at least let us sleep for a few hours. It feels like I've been running around nonstop for the past day and a half," a silver knight complained.

"I'm disappointed," said a gold knight. Unlike his human underling, this knight was an elf. His fair skin and platinum hair gave it away before his pointed ears. "If you cannot handle more than a day of active service, then how in the world did you rise above bronze rank? Or even graduate?"

"I can do it, but complaining helps me feel better about it."

"A sentiment all too common in the younger ranks. I weep for the future of this nation if you are the standard for soldiers that has been set."

"Easy, Aithorn. If you complain about others complaining, are you not just another complainer?" a gold-ranked dwarf asked.

"I simply advocate for a stronger creed of knights, ones who know their place and do not disrespect their superiors with their sniveling gripes."

"Sounds like someone's cranky. Do you need your porridge and a nap?" asked Helena Frigga, the youngest in the room.

"Lady Frigga, I understand that they are eager about your promotion," said the dwarf, "but you have not yet earned the right to speak to your superiors so casually, especially in the war room. Same for you, Sir Holmes. You should know that by now."

"There are too many women here as it is. We don't need the men acting like them."

The voice's owner slammed his hand down on the table, drawing looks of both silent agreement and disdain. He was Sven Gradius, the royal executioner. Everyone who patrolled the previous night had retired their plates and mail for cloth uniforms, but he remained in full armor, including his helmet. He was forbidden from removing his heavy steel garb.

"I agree. I've noticed a steep decline in the quality of our knights as of late. It's always due to women," said the oldest man in the room, a general who had transferred to the knight order.

"I find it funny that you only have the courage to say that when Lady Zodiac isn't around," said a gold-ranked woman in her 40s with a shaved head. "Speaking of which, where is she?"

"For her to be barred from active duty, including these meetings, is insane," said a bespectacled male knight. Rather than armor or a uniform, he wore a researcher's robe and a knight's ring. "You're shorthanded enough as it is. Is it really a good idea to keep her off the streets?"

"Good riddance," Gradius growled.

"Easy there, Sven. I believe you were all just discussing disrespectful juniors a moment ago?" All eyes turned to the doorway, where a towering man stood, shoulder to shoulder with the executioner. He had a rugged, scarred face, hidden by his beard and eyepatch. "Fate is a ravenous beast, and the sound of hypocrisy is like the moaning of an injured creature out in the wild, inviting all who hear it to an easy meal."

"Sir Tarnas," everyone said with equal respect, even Gradius.

"Apologies for my lateness."

"Late? You weren't expected until Knight's Day," said the old general. "And to arrive so soon after dawn?"

"The frontlines are in good hands. My commanders are simply mopping up. Besides, I always like catching a glimpse of the new recruits to see what we'll be working with, and with Prince Seraph and Prince Galvin enlisting, well, I had to be here."

"Sir, please take my seat," said Frigga as she stood up.

"My thanks. Sir Elyot, it's been too long since you sat at this table."

The addressed knight straightened his glasses. "It is good to see you as well, Sir Tarnas. Unfortunately, things are so chaotic that I've been called from the academy to provide assistance where I can."

"As is your specialty, to find the answer when brawn fails. I just hope we aren't hindering your preparations for the new year. Now, I understand that there was a Red Revelry last night. Did something unusual occur?"

Gradius held up a ceramic mask and placed it on the table. "I encountered one of the Harajin. He managed to escape me, and when I found him again, someone else had already done him in. Where there is one, there are always more."

"With Knight's Day nigh upon us, this timing could not have been random," said Aithorn.

"Did he say anything?" the knight in glasses asked.

"He spoke only in lies."

"What lies?"

"He had something for the king, a treaty or something. He even held out a knight's sword and said it was supposed to protect him." All of the knights felt pits in their stomachs.

"And you didn't think to take him alive?!" the old general thundered.

"My job is to kill them, not catch them!"

"Sven, Delta, calm yourselves," said the dwarf.

"What was the condition of the body? Do you have it?" the knight with glasses asked.

"It had already been searched for valuables, but I did collect it."

"Then there may be more we can learn, and like you said, if there is one, there are more. We'll get another chance."

"If the Harajin do have something planned, Knight's Day may have to be canceled. The festival could be their target," said the bald woman.

General Delta, coiling his white beard, countered, "it might be that their target isn't the festival, just that their plan incorporates it. We may be able to catch them in the act if we allow events to unfurl."

"You suggest we use the city as bait?" asked Holmes.

"Not bait. For them, it might be camouflage. We simply need to set a trap."

The dwarf crossed his arms and sighed. "This close to Knight's Day, stopping or simply hindering the festival could lead to riots, and with so many adventurers present, the city could even be destroyed."

Adwith Tarnas nodded. "I agree. We must also consider the possibility that the Harajin do wish to engage in a dialogue. If they make another attempt, we should give it a try."

"The Harajin are cutthroats," Aithorn warned. "If you give them even a single opportunity, they'll pierce your heart and disappear before you even hit the ground."

"But why the Harajin? Why now? They are just a cult of bandits, so why would they want to align themselves with a country across the sea?" a silver knight asked.

"I heard that things were getting precarious in Ezeria," said Delta, "with a civil war easily on the horizon. I do not know how the Harajin fit in the situation over there, but perhaps they want allies precisely because they don't fit in."

Tarnas sighed. "If we can find a way to coexist with them, then we must. They aren't the only ones in need of allies. However, this is not our decision to make; it is the king's. I must address His Royal Highness with the front line status, and I shall inquire about our actions regarding the Harajin. Now, how did the night fare for everyone else?"

"These Red Revelries get more and more violent every year. For the safety of the public, we should separate academy enrollment from Knight's Day," said Lady Frigga.

Sir Delta objected. "It's the enrollment that makes Knight's Day what it is. This is when young adventurers flock to this city to spend all of their hard-earned money. Most businesses in Colbrand rely on that revenue, and the kingdom needs the taxes. Besides, moving the date will just move the problem. Recruits might get even bolder if the city is in a relaxed state."

"Either way, I found four bodies and broke up five fights last night. It won't be long before it's completely out of our control," said Sir Holmes.

Tarnas cleared his throat. "For now, all we can do is increase our patrols and wait for this to blow over."

----------

"I have a bone to pick with you." Noah reluctantly opened his eyes and looked at the angry bunny girl standing over him. "You tied me up, stuck a candle in my butt, and then just abandoned me."

"I do apologize for that."

"I'm canceling your discount."

"That's fair."

Noah sat up, and Bella jerked in shock at the sight of his arm. He had regained none of his strength or sensation, only a dull throbbing and itchy skin.

"What happened to you out there?"

"I got roped into a fight. Are there any girls here that can use healing magic?"

"Rita, but it's not free."

"That's fine. Can you please show me to her?"

"As you wish."

"Would you mind helping me with my belt? Removing it with one hand was much easier than fastening it."

Bella knelt in front of him, began fiddling with the buckle, and then looked up at him. "What are you doing?" she asked, referring to the ear massage he was giving her with his good hand.

He slid them between his fingers and ran his thumb across her soft fur. This touch, so delicate, was making her shiver. It was like a breath on the back of her neck, telling her that she was vulnerable and exposed to a possible predator. It made her anxious, but she didn't want it to stop.

"Just showing you my gratitude."

He slid his hand down, caressing her cheek and lifting her chin. He pressed his thumb on her lips, and she instinctively opened her mouth and began sucking on it. She didn't even realize what she was doing until he started tickling her under the chin. She relaxed her kneeling posture and began bobbing her head, sucking on Noah's thumb with gusto.

He pulled it from her mouth, the two linked by a saliva thread, and returned to her ear. Bella struggled to keep her balance as Noah started massaging her ear canal, thumbing the cartilage like a joystick. While strong, his movements were by no means rough or clumsy, leaving Bella mumbling with every weak breath and rolling her eyes.

When he finally pulled away, all the anger in Bella's eyes had gone, and her dilated pupils spoke only of the lust within her, lust she had never felt for any other customer. She finally stood up with a smile of resignation and pushed Noah back onto the bed. She tossed aside the outfit she had just put on and got on top of him.

"I'm still not giving you back your discount."

Not too long after, Noah took a seat in the room of another working girl. She was dressed in a belly dancer's outfit to expose the various piercings scattered across her face and body. Rita, she was examining his arm while Bella stood behind him, rubbing his shoulders as if to warn her coworker that he was her client and hers alone, having regained her lustful discount.

"You healed this with a potion?" she asked.

"I tried to. It was my last one. Why, is that going to be a problem?"

"Since your arm is in a state of having healed incorrectly, my magic has to first undo it and return your arm to its original state."

"Will it hurt?" Bella asked.

"No, it's just tedious. I charge extra for that."

"That's fine. Just fix it, please."

Rita held her hand to his arm, showing each fingernail painted a different color. "Mend Flesh."

A magic circle appeared around her wrist, and a yellow radiance flowed from her palm. The scar tissue on his burns began to quiver as his flesh was put back together in its proper form. Healing potions often made wounds itch while being mended, but the light from Rita's hand was pleasant and warm, like the spring sun. He felt it sink into his flesh, this nourishing radiation rejuvenating all of his cells and easing his stressed nerves.

"Healing spells are holy magic, aren't they?" Noah asked.

"That's right. Only women can perform them, while men are better at fighting spells. I'm guessing this happened in a Red Revelry? They got you good."

"I just wanted to watch the fights and ended up getting spotted."

"Do you know who hit you?"

"No, it was just some masked guy."

"Well, I hope you got your fill of wanton violence."

Noah and the two women looked over to the open door, where Madam Cyrilo was standing. She had polished her appearance since he last saw her, her face heaped on with makeup to try and hide the years. It even looked like she had added some dye to her hair, and she no longer had the body shape of a plucked chicken.

As for her attire, she looked as one might expect for a brothel manager. She wore a lovely red dress, almost Chinese in design, and had a fur scarf draped over her shoulders. Of course, she was still an old woman, but Daniel being ensnared by beer goggles now seemed more plausible.

"Good morning, Madam. You're looking well," said Noah.

"You can save the sweet talk." She'd discarded her hostess personality and now shot daggers from her eyes. "I knew I heard someone messing around outside last night. The nerve of you, sneaking in. While I take no moral issue with those who participate in Red Revelries, as a rule, nobody is allowed to enter the building once the fighting starts. The doors stay locked until dawn for a good reason. I don't want a pack of angry knights busting down my doors and chasing people through my parlor. Consider yourself banished from my establishment."

"Madam Cyrilo, let's not be too hasty..." said Bella.

"Silence. I've told you before, Bella, you can't keep pets if they track blood onto my floors."

Noah's wounded arm, if discovered, could get him arrested, but he was unfazed. If Cyrilo really intended to throw him out, she likely would have brought Lucius to escort him off the premises. Either way, it would be best to play along. Noah crafted a believable look of panic and looked at her with fearful eyes.

"Madam, I swear, it was a one-time mistake! I only went out there to watch! I swear, it won't happen again! Please, just give me one more chance! I have nowhere else to go!"

"That's not my problem. I'll allow Rita to fix your arm, and if you don't want soldiers coming after you, you'll come to my study so we can discuss what you owe me for damages."

'Damages? I didn't damage anything, I'm sure of it. Is she going to claim I broke some antique and try to rob me? He glanced at Rita and Bella. Or is that a code? Depending on what she has to say, leaving this alone could come back to bite me.' "Very well, Madam. I shall meet you as soon as Rita is finished."

"See that you do."

She departed, and Noah spoke only when he was sure she was gone. "She's a harsh woman."

"Tell me about it," said Rita, "but we'd all be sucking cocks under the pier if not for her. She's been running this place for decades."

"She even taught us to channel our totem beasts to give us an edge," Bella said.

"Totem beasts? Is that what you call..." He pointed to her ears and tail. "This?"

"That's right, and sometimes we get trouble for it from those church whackos."

"Yeah, I can understand that."

Rita floated her hand back and forth over Noah's arm for half an hour. Holy magic poured continuously from her palm, turning scar tissue into healthy skin and inflating it with restored muscles. Noah waited patiently and ignored his growling stomach. Finally, Rita sat back with a sigh of exhaustion, and Noah paid her and left.

On his way up to Madam Cyrilo's room, he passed by Daniel, carrying several chamber pots with a sarcastic grin and eyes full of bloodlust. "Guess whose job it is to clean the shit buckets today!"

He was in no mood to talk, so Noah let him be and continued upstairs. He activated his spells before arriving at a familiar door. His clone knocked, but the sound, like the clone itself, was only an illusion.

"Come in." He stepped inside and looked around, finding the room empty. "Over here."

Noah passed through a door in the back of the room and stepped into a smoke-filled office. Cyrilo was sitting behind a desk with a long-stemmed pipe clutched in her fingers. Its gray vapor formed a veil over her face. The sunlight passing through the windows showed the depth of the smoke and shined upon numerous scrolls, books, and antiques adorning the surrounding shelves.

Noah was getting flashbacks to the apothecary in Clive, but at Cyrilo's behest, he sat in an available chair and faced her, or at least, his clone sat down. Noah wandered around the room, searching for danger signs and examining her artifacts.

"I see that Rita did a good job with your arm." The smoke had deepened the sound of her voice.

"Yes, it's as good as new," he said through his clone.

"Unfortunately, we need her skills quite often. Sometimes men like to rough up the girls. Taking Lucius into my employ has cut down their numbers, though. He can leap over that counter with surprising dexterity and throw a man out into the street before you can say "black eye". Daniel doesn't seem nearly as reliable, but I'm giving him a second chance. I can't deny, I've gotten a bit curious as to whatever it is he plans on doing on that stage."

"I'm sure you'll enjoy it."

"Hmmm. I admire your courage in coming up here. I told Lucius to grab you if you tried to escape."

"He would have failed."

"That was a nasty wound you received. Revelers rarely use spells to hide their presence, meaning you were probably wounded by a knight, and if you managed to get away from them, they'll probably be looking for you. I'm guessing you have a letter of recommendation for the knight academy, and it has your real name. Noah, right? Daniel let it slip the other night over drinks. All I have to do is pass your name to the knights, and that letter will earn you a place in the dungeon."

'Fucking Daniel...' Noah thought to himself as he stood behind Cyrilo.

He placed his hand on a sheathed dagger but did not draw it. This old woman had invited a man who kills monsters for a living to a room where nobody would hear them so she could blackmail him. Either she was entirely confident in her ability to survive an assassination attempt, or she was baiting him to attack. His best choice was to keep her talking.

"What do you want from me?"

"I have a task I need you to do. Collect a parcel and bring it to me. It's as simple as that."

"If it was simple, you could have just sent someone else. But, I'm guessing it's something you wouldn't want to be caught holding."

Cyrilo released two jets of smoke from her nose like a slumbering dragon. "That is correct. It's a potion, and if you tried to sell it, all but one out of every ten merchants would abstain from fleeing your presence and alerting the authorities. Think of that before your fingers start getting sticky." She reached into her desk drawer and pulled out a scroll with a wax seal. "This is the payment. The contents are in code, so they are worthless to anyone but the proper recipient."

"Does Lucius know about this potion?"

"Yes, I've filled him in on everything. He's my insurance."

'If I kill her, he'll either report me or try to kill me himself. I'd have to kill him, as well as Rita and Bella, for knowing I'm here. That would be four bodies to deal with, and I'm not putting any more trust in Daniel keeping secrets. Maybe I should just burn the whole place down and take out everyone and any evidence. No, no more arson. She's successfully cornered me, so I might as well reward her.'

"Fine, I'll do it. Where and when?"

"At the docks, in the western side of the harbor, you'll find a warehouse with a seagull painted on its doors. Someone will meet you inside. Be there at midday and back here before sunset. Do that, and the knights won't have to know about your nighttime activities."

It was already midmorning; he'd have to hurry. He took the scroll and left without saying a word. Downstairs, he was stopped by Lucius, resting a mammoth hand on his shoulder.